The new owner of the Holiday Inn Manhattan View can rebrand the 136-room hotel, which is being sold at a bargain compared with similar Manhattan hotels that are for sale now.

Photo: Courtesy of Eastern Consolidated
The Holiday Inn Manhattan View is up for sale in Long Island City, Queens.

A Long Island City, Queens hotel built just before the market crash has been put on the market for $59 million.

Queens Plaza North, a development firm, opened the 13-story Holiday Inn Manhattan View on the corner of 39th Avenue and 29th Street at the beginning of 2009. The firm had initially planned to open a luxury hotel, but when the financial crisis hit, decided instead to enter into a 10-year franchise agreement with Holiday Inn. In under five years, though, that agreement will expire and open up more options to any potential buyer.

"You will have the opportunity to rebrand it, perhaps as an independent boutique," said Marion Jones, a broker at Eastern Consolidated, who is selling the hotel along with colleagues Adelaide Polsinelli, Gary Meese and Jason Marin.

article continues below advertisement

The 136-room hotel also includes a ground-floor restaurant and a lounge, and currently operates at about 86% occupancy. And while that, along with its room rates, puts it on par with similar hotels in Manhattan, according to Ms. Jones, the property is being offered at a relative bargain. In fact, the $59 million asking price translates into about $430,000 per room, whereas a comparable property in across the river would fetch a minimum of $500,000 per room, she said.

Hotel demand in Long Island City has skyrocketed in general over the last decade, driven by both its proximity to Manhattan and a number of local corporate offices like JetBlue and Citigroup Inc., who often book rooms in bulk. That demand, according to Ms. Jones, is only set to become more robust as the area's residential and commercial market continue to grow.